Louder Than Thunder

They arrived at the party dressed to kill, thanks to Mary and Kim who, particularly when working closely, could put some amazing outfits together. Michelle was wearing a simple black dress with a white rounded collar, white tights and her Chelsea boots; Mary was wearing a purple velvet mini dress with tights and black mary-janes; Darlene wore a pair of black jeans, a colour-blocked, collared shirt and a fishtail parka, while Kim sported a red and black striped jacket, a simple white button-up and a black, a-line mini skirt.
The house was a fairly average English household, only filled wall-to-wall with teenagers dancing, chatting and kissing. Michelle fetched a drink of water, returned to the living room and stood in the corner, near where Mary was dancing with a boy.
Mary turned to Michelle with a smile, still dancing.
“What’d I say? This guy throws the best parties!” she yelled over the noise.
“Yeah, it’s good,” Michelle replied, sipping her water. “Hey, who has the pills?”
“Neil over there has some blues, and Tommy, in the blue and white, has some purple hearts.”
“Alright, thanks.”
She walked over to Neil as he took a small plastic bag filled with navy blue pills out of his pocket and handed a few to some girls around him.
“ ‘ey, you’re Neil?” Michelle asked as she approached him.
“Yeah, that’s me. Blues?”
“Please.”
He placed a few in her hand. Michelle knew she’d need them to get herself through this party with her sanity intact. She swallowed them down with some water and left the plastic cup on a side table. She stood again by where Mary and, now, Kim were dancing.
“Come dance, Michelle!” Kim cheered.
“No thanks, I don’t really dance.”
“Come on, it’s fun!”
“No, I don’t really-“
“Just have a little fun!”
Mary dragged Michelle into their little triangle and showed her how to move like them. Michelle mimicked their movements with much less exaggeration.
“There you go, you’ve got it. Just like the old days!” Mary said with approval.
Michelle chuckled as she twisted along to the bluesy rock ‘n’ roll coming out of the player. When the song ended, Michelle pulled over to the side of the crowd again, not tired at all but still wanting a break from an activity that had become unusual to her over the past year.
Another record went on the player, still rock ‘n’ roll but faster paced. Mary and Kim ushered Michelle back in with them and they started dancing again. When the song finished, a slower song came on and the girls sat on the side to wait for a faster song. Michelle was tapping her hands and feet out of time with the music, needing something to do.
“Say, has anyone seen Darlene?” Kim asked, suddenly realizing she wasn’t around.
“Darlene drinks and chats up boys at parties,” Mary stated.
“Oh, alright.”
“She’s right troubled tonight,” Michelle added.
“I know. I’m starting to think this was a bad idea for her. I thought she would hang out with us more. Maybe it’s just ‘er state, but it seems she just wants to go about drinkin’ and all again. I didn’t use to worry about that American, but it’s starting to seem. . .unhealthy,” Mary said.
“We’ll have a talk with her tomorrow,” Kim suggested.
“We can’t. We promised that we wouldn’t bother each other about certain things for now. We were gettin’ in fights and it wasn’t good so we promised that there were certain things we wouldn’t bother each other about out of respect for our independent decisions, our friendship and our love of music,” Michelle explained smiling and tapping faster and less in time than before.
“Strange promise, but alright. If it starts getting out of hand, however, I will not keep my mouth closed. Bands break up over things like addiction and abuse.”
“Darlene’s not addicted or anything, she just likes to drink. I’ve seen her go drinking every night for a month and then stop for nearly two months with no withdrawal at all,” Mary said.
“Like I said, if it does get to that point, I will say something.”
“Alright.”
Darlene and a tall, lanky mod she was with appeared beside them with wide smiles. She put a hand on Mary’s shoulder, surprising her.
“God, you scared me!”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to tell you that we’re going out for a smoke. Wanna come?”
“Sure.”
With that, the group relocated outside. The main source of light was the front porch’s lantern-style outdoor lamp and the lit ends of their cigarettes. The smoke that blew off hardly had any light to dance off it, making it nearly invisible. Michelle exhaled as she looked down the road, bare in the dead of night. It was pristinely quiet, and the air was clear and cool.
“Nice evening,” one of the boys’ friends commented.
“Yeah,” Mary drifted off. “And you didn’t want to go.”
Mary whispered the words to Michelle, who was hardly paying attention for the few visible stars. Darlene giggled watching Mary try to communicate with Michelle.
“She’ll be back soon,” Mary commented.
“Sorry about that,” Michelle said, returning to them.
“So, I was going to mention earlier, but since there’s a chance now; I’ll just tell you that a magazine called the other day. They want an interview with you girls. They’ll also be holding a photo shoot for you and the other groups in that issue the day after tomorrow, but the interview is the day after that. This time, I’ll make sure they treat you girls with the respect you deserve,” Kim explained with a wink.
“That’s great! Thanks Kim,” Mary said.
“Thanks Kim!” Darlene and Michelle echoed.
“It’s so great having you as our manager. You feel more like part of the band than Paul did. It’s great,” Mary said.
“Thanks! I’m really glad to be working with you girls. It’s been great so far.”
“We’ve liked working with you too,” Darlene said.
“You girls are in a band?” the boy Darlene was with asked.
“Yeah. I told you we just came back from America. That’s where we were touring.”
“ ‘ey, that’s great!”
“Cheers, Kim,” Michelle said, taking a pill from her pea coat’s pocket and dropping it in her hand.
“I don’t take pills,” she said, handing it back.
“You sure?”
“Sure.”
“Alright.”
“Thanks anyways though.”
“Hey, wait! Shh!” Mary said.
The group went quiet for the moment. The wind couldn’t even be heard.
“What is it?” Michelle asked.
“I thought I heard something.”
“Like what?”
“Like motors.”
“Hold on, I can hear it too,” Darlene said, putting a hand to her ear and brushing her hair out of its way.
A loud rumbling noise could definitely be heard coming down the road. The group looked between each other.
“What d’you suppose that is?” one of the boys asked.
“Rockers. I know it,” Michelle said.
“What if it’s scooters and they’re just other mods,” Mary asked.
“You ever heard a scooter rumble like that?”
“Alright. Let’s get inside. They might just be out for a drive and not even know we’re here.”
“Yeah, let’s get inside,” Darlene’s boy suggested.
The group ran inside and shut the door, closing the lock. Those near the door panicked, unsure of what was going on.
“There are rockers coming down the road,” the boy informed those near the door.
“Stay inside, everyone!”
The message was passed around quickly, and the room was a frenzy of worry.
“This can’t happen twice, can it?” Darlene asked.
“Apparently it can. At least we’re prepared this time,” Mary stated.
“That’s arguable.”
“They’re coming down the road!” someone near the living room window yelled.
“Turn off all the lights!” another suggested.
And like that, it was dark inside as well. Mary, Darlene, Michelle and Kim all watched through the windows near the door as a group of rockers on a dozen motorbikes, their headlights lighting the way down the road, approached. It was suddenly the quietest party any of them ever attended.
“You think they know we’re here?” someone whispered.
“How many do you see?” Darlene asked quietly.
“Maybe twenty,” Michelle estimated.
“How many of us do you think there are?”
“Maybe thirty.”
“We can take ‘em,” Mary said.
“What if they’ve got blades?” Michelle asked.
“We’ve got cutlery and glass bottles.”
“I suppose.”
They watched, hoping the group would drive by, ignorant to their existence; unfortunately, they began circling around the front lawn and the road.
“We know you’re in there!” they began yelling.
“Shit,” Mary cursed in a breath.
“They won’t leave unless we do something,” Darlene said.
Kim sat against the door, looking up at them with fear in her eyes. She wasn’t used to any of this. Darlene helped her up.
“It’s alright, Kim. If we fight, you can stay inside,” Darlene assured her. “Go hide somewhere - a bathroom, a closet, somewhere safe.”
“Alright.”
Kimberly ran through the hushed crowd and up the stairs purposefully. Darlene, Mary and Michelle faced the crowd.
“We need a plan,” Michelle admitted.
“I’ve got a plan,” Mary announced. “Alright, everyone! We’ve had our fun ruined by those wankers too many times for it to seem like they’re just getting their kicks. There’s more of us than them, ain’t there?”
Mary’s addressing of the crowd was successful and they cheered along with her idea.
“Well then, what are hiding for? They should be the ones running! Let’s make 'em run!”
Another cheer ensued form the audience, and with that, the three girls led a charge out of the house into the field of play the rockers had created. Many of them had gotten off their bikes, prepared for a fight. The mods ran towards them, unafraid and angry.
Small battles between three or four began all over the front yard. Some even brought their battles into the house, fighting in the living room and bedrooms after being chased by a rocker and ambushing them in the room. Some of the mods had indeed fought off rockers with bottlenecks and cutlery, but fists were used mostly.